On behalf of us all, a warm welcome to Paddleducks, Al. You've come to
the right place to talk about towboats!
> I am now in the process of researching the paddlewheel towboat
> AMERICA built at Brooklyn, NY in 1852. She was 220 feet in length,
> 30 feet in beam and had a depth of 9 feet. She was rebuilt at some
> point in her career having the pilot house raised. AMERICA was owned
> variously by Samuel Schuyler, Beverwyck Towing and the Cornell
> Steamboat Co. She operated on the Hudson River in New York.
I have done the usual basic searches and nothing comes up for
"America" as a Hudson River towboat or Beverwyck Towing. I think
the town of Beverwyck was eventually Albany.
Captain Samuel Schuyler, the well known towboat owner and entrepreneur
from Albany, died in 1842, so it's unlikely he owned the "America" if
she was built in 1852. More likely she was owned by his sons who
built up a very lucrative business called the Schuyler Towboat Company
of Albany, NY.
There's lots of information available on the famous Thomas Cornell and
his steamboat Company and there's a book available which you might
want to check out.
"Thomas Cornell and the Cornell Steamboat Company"
Stuart Murray with an introduction by Roger W. Mabie
223 pages, illustrated, 8.5 x 11, 2001
It's not cheap at US$39.00 but you might be able to locate it at a
library or, do what I sometimes do, track down the author through the
Publisher, in this case Purple Mountain Press. You could also try
emailing them and asking them if there is any reference to "America"
in the index. Their email is:
Purple@catskill.net
You live in NY state, Al, so you'll be familiar with the local
geography in which your sternwheeler operated. For the benefit of
other Paddlducks who may be listening...The Cornell Steamboat Company
was based in Rondout Creek (which I know quite well)near Kingston, NY
on the West side of the Hudson River.
Roundout Point by the way has a famous and very picturesque lighhouse.
The HUDSON RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM is located in Kingston at Rondout
Landing and might be a good stepping stone to locate plans of your
vessel. There are a number of other Marine and Maritime Museums on
both sides of the Hudson River from Poughkeepsie to Albany...my sons
and I love this area which happen to be our old summer vacation
stomping grounds and where our family still keeps a summer home...
we're planning a trip back there next Christmas!
HUDSON RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM
One Rondout Landing, Kingston, NY 12401
Joseph Emerson, executive director
Tel/fax: 913-338-0071 / 914-338-0583
E-mail: hrmm@ulster.net
http://www.ulster.net/~hrmm A useful person to contact might be Roger W. Mabie, President, Hudson
River Maritime Museum who has written about The Cornell Steamboat
Company at:
http://www.ulster.net/~hrmm/cornell/introduction.htmlYou might also try contacting C. W. "Bill" Spangenberger, the last
president of the Cornell Steamboat Company and a person who apparently
provided much information for the Stuart Murray book. He spoke about
Cornell, his company, and his boats at the Rhinebeck Historical
Society on November 30th.
The Rhinebeck Historical Society, PO Box 291, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Phone: (845) 876-7341
Consider also contacting the City Historians of the various towns
around Rondout Pt. and Kingston. It's surprising how much these people
love to help a model researcher.
The difficulty occurs if the vessel was given different names during
changes of ownership. It might not have even been called 'America"
whilst in the service of Cornell. Mind you, the detective work is very
much part of the fun of model building, but you seem to be already
well on your way and probably much of the information here is "old
news" to you.
> The model will be in 1/192 scale and possibly be a waterline model.
> I am looking for sources of plans and/or other information. I have >
> the Bard painting of AMERICA in her early configuration along with
> another unidentified painting showing the modification to her pilot
> house.
Boy..that's almost a miniature!! But it will look exquisite in a
display case. I'm positive I wrecked my eyes modeling 1/400 Scale
sailing ships with all blocks, running and standing rigging
authentically reproduced... so anything less than 1/96 is a bit of
a challenge!!
> This will be my first paddlewheel ship and any assistance would be
> greatly appreciated.
We'll all do our best. Please keep us posted as your project develops.
Once again, a warm welcome to Paddleducks.
PJ
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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